Hotel and spa would rise in White Lake

BETHEL — A New York City developer of a proposed hotel and spa on the site of the White Lake Mansion House says he plans to knock down the historic but crumbling mansion by November.

Victor Whitman

BETHEL — A New York City developer of a proposed hotel and spa on the site of the White Lake Mansion House says he plans to knock down the historic but crumbling mansion by November.

Pawel Efraimov, president of Globe Developers, says he's eager to get started on his on-again, off-again project that has been in the planning process since 2007. Bethel's Planning Board granted site plan approval earlier this month for a project estimated to cost anywhere from $18 million to $22 million.

"I will start this year," Efraimov said.

Efraimov plans to build 72 hotel suites and a 15,000-square- foot spa on the site of the 164-year-old mansion. He said the design will mimic that of the mansion, which was Sullivan's first summer hotel. Efraimov, a Russian immigrant, said his ties to Sullivan County go back to the 1980s and early '90s, when he was vacationing with his family at the Concord.

Efraimov's son, Ben, vice president of Globe Developers, said his father originally planned to renovate the mansion but it was not feasible.

"We are going to do a replica of the building that is standing now," he said.

Ben Efraimov said the project's proximity to Bethel Woods will help "as a marketing tactic" but the business plan is not tied to seasonal concerts. "There are no facilities like this in the immediate area," he said. "We know we will generate the business on the peak times. It is, what do we have during the off-peak? That is where the spa comes in."

Bethel Supervisor Dan Sturm believes Efraimov's plans are for real, noting the developer has hung around for five years and kept the project alive through the credit crisis.

"He kept coming back with a commitment to make it happen," Sturm said.

The town still must finalize a developer's agreement that establishes a project timeline.

"We are trying to do everything we can to prevent a historic building from being removed and nothing being put in its place," Sturm said. "That is why we are requiring a developer's agreement."

Efraimov has developed condo projects in Long Branch and Fort Lee, N.J., and a Radisson hotel in Spain. In May 2011, Efraimov completed a project in downtown Rochester that added 30 lofts and 11,000 square feet of retail in the federally recognized historic former Kirstein Building.

Mark Fitzstevens, the City of Rochester's liaison to the project, said the $4.1 million renovation, which included a $1 million Restore New York grant, was completed on time and according to the agreed-upon parameters.

"He (Efraimov) did a beautiful job on it," Fitzstevens said.

vwhitman@th-record.com

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